"Les Misérables" is directed by Tom Hooper, who last gave us the stellar Oscar-winning film "The King's Speech" in 2010. Although this is still a movie musical, with characters conversing much more often in song than in straight dialogue, Hooper successfully gives "Les Misérables" at least a hint of reality, partially via sets and digital backdrops, but mainly through his choice to record the vocal performances while the movie was being shot instead of in a studio. The result is less robust but more emotional renditions of some very familiar songs, such as "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Stars," to name but two. Hooper's fresh approach to making a movie musical helps "Les Misérables" land in that borderline-exceptional category; it is a job well-done indeed.

Although there are a few very minor changes to the story here and there, this is still the "Les Misérables" familiar to so many, having been seen on stages across the world by some 60 million people. Among those prisoners pulling the ships in the film's opening moments is Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to help his family. Valjean, aka Prisoner 24601, is soon set free, but he is warned by the man who will become his constant pursuer, Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), that he had better live an honest life or he'll return to chains.

A series of events leads to Valjean a few years later creating a new and prosperous life for himself under a false name. He owns a factory in Montreuil-sur-Mer, where Javert meets him but doesn't quite recognize him. After turning a blind eye to his foreman tossing out one of his workers, a woman named Fantine (Anne Hathaway), Valjean encounters her on the streets. She has been selling herself to get by and to be able to send money to an innkeeper and his wife to care for her young daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Her situation has made her become quite ill. Valjean saves her from Javert, brings her to a hospital and promises he will find the girl and care for her.

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Soon, Valjean's true identity is revealed, so he must flee from Javert with Cosette. Years later, the key players are all living in Paris, and Cosette is grown (and played by Amanda Seyfried). Although she spends most of her time living quietly at home with her adopted father and away from the eyes of the law, Cosette does encounter a young man named Marius (the talented Eddie Redmayne of "My Week With Marilyn"), one the city's student revolutionaries. It is love at first sight for the pair, but can they find love with each other as the city is about to be torn apart and Valjean yet again has Javert on his trail?

Based on the 1862 Victor Hugo novel of the same name and written for the stage by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics) and a few others, "Les Misérables" boasts a complex story, one that can be hard to follow completely the first time or two that you see it. In the hands of Hooper, writer William Nicholson ("Gladiator") and the rest of the filmmaking team, the story should be easier to follow for the uninitiated. It helps to have close-ups of the actors as they sing their roles and advance the story.

As for thei actors, it's a bit of a mixed bag, with the good and bad falling along gender lines.

The talented Jackman has the musical-theater chops for the starring role, but there have been better Valjeans. He's not bad by any means, but he leaves a little something to be desired. Similarly, Crowe disappoints slightly as Javert, having the presence for the character but not the necessary vocal ability. He doesn't sing badly, exactly, but the first time you hear him launch into song it's a bit strange, and as the show goes on it's clear he can't put a lot of power into some of Javert's key numbers. Another actor who doesn't quite measure up to some of his stage counterparts is Sacha Baron Cohen, whose innkeeper/criminal Thénadiar is a bit too jokey, even if the characters does get the show's funniest moments. (Relatedly, one of Hooper's few missteps is the key Thénadiar number "Master of the House." It's very slapsticky and highly edited, killing that sense of reality Hooper goes for the rest of the time. It doesn't help that the actor doesn't just kill it with the singing of the incredibly catchy tune.)

On the other hand, the ladies of "Les Mis" just knock it out of the proverbial park. Hathaway's aforementioned "I Dreamed a Dream," as she's been left physically and mentally beaten by life on the streets, is dripping with understated emotional power. Seyfried likewise lends a gorgeous singing voice to her numbers, as does the little-known Samantha Barks as Eponine. Barks' rendition of the unforgettable second-act number "On My Own" does not disappoint.

Speaking of acts, by the time you reach the end of what is the first act of the stage version -- the powerful ensemble number "One Day More" -- you could go for an intermission, but, of course, the movie plows forward. And, as with the stage version, the film uses almost all of its best numbers by that point. You just wish there was something terrific waiting for you down the stretch of "Les Misérables," but there simply isn't.

Even still, "Les Misérables" is a wonderful musical, and this film is a very commendable adaptation of it. Recently nominated for the best musical or comedy Golden Globe, it is hard to imagine it not receiving a nod for the Academy Award for best picture.